Lessons in life are best learnt early, even if you are not necessarily aware
of it at the time. At seven, for example, and standing on the ski slopes
overlooking Zermatt in Switzerland, Alistair Lukies was given an early
instruction in how to avoid disaster.

The weather suddenly took a turn for the worse and “we couldn’t see more than
a foot in front of our faces. You start thinking ‘I’m up a mountain and it
is pitch black. How am I ever going to get out of this?’ ”